After the tragic death of three hostages at the hands of Israeli soldiers, Prime Minister Netanyahu wants to continue fighting Hamas. Germany is currently insisting on a permanent ceasefire. And there is also criticism of the war cabinet in Tel Aviv.
While the accidental killing of three Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip by its own soldiers continues to stir people, the government is undeterred in continuing its war against the Islamist Hamas. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emphasized that military pressure on Hamas must be maintained. This is the only way to defeat them and ensure the return of all those abducted. “We are more determined than ever to continue to the end, until we destroy Hamas and bring back all of our abductees,” Netanyahu said.
Protesters are putting pressure on Israel’s government
Meanwhile, released hostages, relatives of hostages and hundreds of supporters demonstrated again in Tel Aviv on Saturday evening for the release of those still in the Gaza Strip. Noam Perry, a relative of one of the hostages, accused Netanyahu’s war cabinet of saying military pressure was necessary to get the hostages released. “Now more and more hostages are coming back as corpses,” said Perry. According to Israeli estimates, 112 hostages are still being held.
Meanwhile, Israel’s Chief of General Staff Herzi Halevi took responsibility for the accidental killing of the three Israeli hostages. “The army and I as its commander are responsible for what happened and we will do everything to prevent such cases from repeating in the future of the fighting,” he said in a video published on X.
Military chief: Shooting is not allowed when the flag is white
At the same time, he made it clear that people with a white flag who wanted to surrender should not be shot at. Rules of engagement were violated when the hostages were killed on Friday. “The three hostages did everything to make us recognize them as such – they had their shirts off so we could see they weren’t wearing explosive belts, and they were holding a white flag,” Halevi said.
At the same time, he pointed out that the soldiers were in an active combat zone. Terrorists are active there in civilian clothing and every decision in a split second can mean the difference between life and death. The only consolation for the families of the fallen soldiers is that their deaths were not in vain, said Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, according to the newspaper “The Times of Israel”. Therefore, they will “ensure that we continue to fight until we achieve total victory,” said Netanyahu.
Reports of negotiations with Hamas
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reiterated his determination to continue the war against the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The only consolation for the families of the fallen soldiers is that their deaths were not in vain, Netanyahu said on Saturday evening, according to the newspaper “The Times of Israel”. Therefore, they will “ensure that we continue to fight until we achieve total victory.” Regarding Hamas’ demands for a cessation of fighting and withdrawal of troops, Netanyahu was quoted as saying: “The moment we capitulate to this demand, Hamas has won. And we are obliged to eliminate (Hamas) and everyone “To get hostages back”.
Netanyahu wants to continue to exert “military pressure” on the militant Palestinian organization, as he made clear on Saturday evening. He described this “pressure” as essential for renewed negotiations with Hamas. The instructions he gave to the Israeli negotiating team were “based on this pressure, and without it we have nothing,” Netanyahu emphasized. However, Hamas said on Saturday that it was not prepared to renegotiate hostage releases if “the aggression against our people does not stop completely.”
Netanyahu did not speak specifically about possible new negotiations with Hamas. However, media reports said that after the accidental killing of the three hostages, the Israeli government was returning to the path of negotiations.
The situation for civilians in Gaza remains unbearable
Meanwhile, the situation of the Palestinian civilian population remains unbearable. Gaza’s heavily damaged main hospital, Shifa, is only “minimally functional” and urgently needs to be able to resume at least the most basic functions “to continue to serve the thousands of people in need of life-saving medical care,” the WHO said on Sunday .
A team described the emergency room as a “bloodbath” with new patients arriving every minute. In the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip, only a handful of doctors, a few nurses and 70 volunteers are working under “incredibly difficult” conditions. The operating theaters are not functioning because there is a lack of fuel, oxygen, specialist staff and supplies. There was also no blood for transfusions, it was said.
US President Joe Biden had called on Israel to show more consideration for the civilian population in the war that has been going on for more than two months. After talks with the Israeli leadership, the US government recently expressed the expectation that Israel would move from “high-intensity” military action to “more targeted” operations. A time period for this was not mentioned.
Israeli army reports death of two soldiers in Gaza
According to the army, two more Israeli soldiers were killed in the fighting in the Gaza Strip between Israel and the Islamist Hamas. As the Israeli army announced on Sunday morning, one of the two soldiers was killed in fighting in the north of the coastal strip sealed off by Israel. The other fell in the south. This means that 121 soldiers have been killed since the Israeli ground offensive began at the end of October.
Baerbock and Cameron are calling for a permanent ceasefire
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) and her British colleague David Cameron called for a permanent ceasefire in a joint article for the British “Sunday Times”: “Our goal cannot simply be an end to the fighting today. It must be a peace that lasts for days , years, generations. We therefore support a ceasefire, but only if it is permanent.” However, there is currently no end to the fighting in sight.
What will be important on Sunday
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin visits the Middle East. The stations are Israel, Qatar and Bahrain. In Israel he also wants to talk to the military leadership about a possible end to intensive ground operations and air strikes. In Qatar, Austin wants to meet, among other things, US forces stationed there. In Bahrain, the minister wants to visit the Central Command of the US Naval Forces.